The Longing

     The following is a letter I wrote a year ago today (10/19/17) to my wife, then my fiancée:
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     My Dearest Abigail,
     Being with you was oh so wonderful; a joyful time, and yet, there was a hint of sadness in the air. I think it was longing.
     We long to be complete in each other. Very soon, we will be. Then, the longing will be soothed, but only in part; we'll still feel a longing. Lewis called it sehnsucht. There is more to this life.
​     Oh Abigail, very soon you'll be mine — but only for a short time. This union God is making, it is wondrous, beautiful; but this union won’t last forever.
For you are Christ’s — you belong to him, and he’s given you to me for a time. To be a companion for you.
     And so, I pray with all my heart that in this short time we have together God would use me to sanctify you for him. For Christ Jesus our Lord and Savior.
     Abigail, you’re so beautiful… but one day I’ll see you — you will be radiant, and more beautiful than I ever will have seen you here on earth: you will be complete in Christ. We’ll see each other and we’ll smile, because we’ll see each other complete in HIM. We’ll be beaming.
     This — this is our longing. What Christ himself is longing for. Imagine… And everything I do for you here must be with that goal in mind. This is why God has brought us together; let us live — now and always — for HIS coming.
     “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless a grain of wheat falls into the earth and dies, it remains alone; but if it dies, it bears much fruit. Whoever loves his life loses it, and whoever hates his life in this world will keep it for eternal life.”
     Let us us die to ourselves — give ourselves to his purpose, and blossom in praise.

     I love you,
     Jebi